


Bad Days Aren't So Bad When I Get to Spend Them With You

by kml8990



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Caring Carlos Reyes, Established Relationship, Hurt TK Strand, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:33:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28931055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kml8990/pseuds/kml8990
Summary: "Never stop doing little things for others. Sometimes those little things occupy the biggest part of their hearts."Carlos has had a rough day and he's looking forward to getting home and showering it away. However, when he gets home he finds that his boyfriend has had an even worse day.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Comments: 4
Kudos: 240





	Bad Days Aren't So Bad When I Get to Spend Them With You

Carlos loved his job. He loved helping people in their time of need and putting handcuffs on bad guys before hauling them off to jail. He felt like he was making a difference in his community every time he put on the uniform. However, that didn’t mean that he didn’t have days where he hated his job as well. The bad days are the days where the world just seems like such a horrible place. Where the bad seemed to outweigh the good, and today as one of those days.

From the moment he started his shift, Carlos knew it was doomed to be one of the days that exhausted him both physically and mentally. The day started with a five car pile-up on the freeway, angry drivers yelling and blaming each other for not being careful in the morning rush hour. That took hours to clean up, and he was very disappointed so see that the fire crew responding was not the 126, was not his boyfriend, because he could’ve used one of his teasing smiles right about then. The accident required a buttload of paperwork that took up even more of his day. When he went back on patrol, the next call he took was a domestic where the wife had thrown a vase at her husband’s head and the anger simmering between the pair, who at one point had to have loved one another ,made Carlos second guess whether love was ever really enough in a relationship. After the domestic, Carlos had done some traffic stops, getting cursed out by multiple drivers when he was issuing them tickets, and finally, the day ended with a drunk driver driving into a telephone pole, unfortunately taking his own life in the accident.

Overall, the day weighed heavy on his shoulders as he pulled into his driveway that evening. The sun had already set and his neighborhood was quiet as everyone settled down for the night. He was still in uniform, foregoing changing at the station for coming straight home to shower the day away, but he had removed his gun belt when he had gotten into his car. He slid out of his Camero, pulling his gun belt with him and slinging it over his shoulder as he walked up the steps to his condo. He fished his keys from his pocket and unlocked the door, noticing right away that while all the lights were off, the TV was on with the volume low.

At first Carlos thought that he had maybe left the television on in his haste to get out the door that morning, but soon realized that that wasn’t the case. For on his sofa, laying on his right side and facing the back of the couch was a sleeping TK. The mere sight of his boyfriend eased some of the tension Carlos had been carrying in his shoulders as he quietly closed and locked the door behind him. The glow of the TV provided him with just enough light to make his way toward the couch. He dropped his gun belt onto the empty chair next to the sofa and sat down on the coffee table in front of the slumbering firefighter.

Carlos had only given TK a key to his place two weeks ago, and the man hadn’t used it yet, mostly because he was usually arriving at the officers home with Carlos. Having TK in his home before he even got there made a warmth spread through Carlos’ chest. Coming home to someone after a hard day was so much better than coming home to an empty apartment. 

Carlos was about to reach out to wake his boyfriend, when the light from the TV brightened, illuminating the room even more and allowing Carlos to take notice of the bruising on TK’s cheek bone and the small cut above his eyebrow. With a frown, Carlos moved to the kitchen, turning on the light so the apartment was more lit up, but not enough so to wake TK. As he returned to his seat on the coffee table, Carlos could now clearly see the deep purple bruising that covered the left side of TK’s face. The small cut above his eyebrow as sealed with butterfly strips. The young firefighter was in a pair of joggers and a tight fitting t-shirt, the shirt so tight, in fact, that Carlos could clearly make out the outline of a large bandage on the man’s left side. With gentle hands he lifted the hem of TK’s shirt, revealing a large gauze bandage tinged with blood and secured with medical tape just above his hip. It was about 4 inches long and 2 inches wide. There was some additional bruising around the bandage, and while Carlos couldn’t see the wound through the gause, it clearly looked painful. He tugged the hem of the shirt back down, before rubbing his palm along TK’s arm as he tried to gently rouse him.

It took a moment, but soon TK’s eyes were fluttering open, his head turning slightly to see Carlos sitting across from him and partially hovering above where he laid, “Hey Babe,” he greeted sleepily, a small smile tugging at his mouth as his eyelids slid closed again.

‘Hey yourself,” Carlos returned the greeting, his hand still rubbing up and down his boyfriend’s arm, “I thought my day was bad, but it looks like yours was worse.”

TK hummed, content with just being in the presence of his boyfriend before slowly rolling onto his back, unable to hide his wince as he did, “It was alright until the end,”

“You want to tell me what happened?”

“Warehouse fire,” TK explained softly, his sleepy green eyes meeting Carlos’ concerned brown ones. “We were clearing the building when the floor gave way. I fell through it, landed on my side.”

Carlos winced in sympathy, “What’s the damage?”

“I cut myself pretty good on a piece of rebar. Got like 30 stitches in my side. They gave me some antibiotics to take and a tetanus shot. Other than that, it’s just a lot of bruising. Could’ve been worse.”

Carlos nodded in agreement as he ran his eyes over his boyfriend’s body to see if there was anything else TK wasn’t telling him about. “Why aren’t you in bed? The couch can’t be comfortable.”

“It’s actually more comfortable,” TK revealed. “I tried to lay in bed, but I kept trying to roll onto my left side. I figured laying on the couch could help me prevent myself from doing that. Besides, I never got to shower because I can’t get the stitches wet and I don’t want to stink up your bed. I feel and smell disgusting.”

Carlos sat quietly for a moment, thinking, while TK fought off sleep. A few minutes later, the officer stood, tugging gently on TK’s hand, “C’mon Tiger,” he said softly “Let’s get you cleaned up and in bed,”

“I’m fine right here,” TK protested weekly, not really wanting to move.

“You’ll feel better once you’re cleaned up and in a bed. Trust me. I have an idea,” Carlos stood over TK and helped him move slowly into a standing position. Most people got pumped full of pain meds after falling through a floor, but TK wasn’t able to take those meds, which meant he was miserable. Carlos led the weary firefighter into the bathroom, supporting him as he walked, “See if you can get your clothes off, I’ll be right back,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to TK’s forehead before leaving the room.

While TK struggled to remove the clothes he had had to ask his father to help him get on in the first place, Carlos busied himself in the apartment by locking up his gun in his gun safe, removing his uniform shirt and retrieving two wash cloths, a towel, a cup, and a clean pair of TK’s boxers. When he reentered the bathroom, he found TK shirtless and leaning heavily against the sink.

“The shirt was doable, but I can’t really bend enough to get my pants off,” The green eyed man pouted. 

Carlos unfolded the towel and laid it over the closed toilet seat, placing the clean underwear on the edge of the tub with the empty cup and the wash cloths on the edge of the sink before stepping behind his boyfriend and tugging the sweats and boxers down his hips and to the floor where the firefighter stepped out of them and kicked them to the side. 

“Sit,” Carlos instructed, supporting TK at the elbow as he slowly sat down on the towel covered toilet. He watched wearily as Carlos filled the basin of the sink with warm water before reaching into the shower and grabbing TK’s favorite shower gel. 

Carlos wet one of the wash cloths with the warm water in the filled sink before pouring some shower gel onto it and lathering it up. He rung the excess water from the cloth before running it slowly across his boyfriend’s bare back. TK groaned, leaning forward to rest his forehead against Carlos’s tank top clad stomach while the Latino man cleaned the day off of him. He was practically boneless as Carlos cared for him, moving the soapy wash cloth in circles against his back, all the way down to the top of his ass cheeks before moving back up to his neck. When his back was thoroughly cleaned, Carlos moved onto TK’s arms, lifting the limp limbs so he could clean the man’s arm pits and upper sides. He gently nudged TK to sit up before working the cloth down the man’s chest, stopping below his navel and being careful as he washed around the bandage on his side and being extra gentle across the deep purple bruising. 

When he as satisfied, Carlos laid the soapy wash cloth over the edge of the sink before dipping the second, unused cloth, into the warm water and following the same path the first cloth had taken over his boyfriend’s body to wipe the soapy residue away. Once TK’s torso had been lovingly washed and wiped off, Carlos helped the man stand before dropping to his knees and grabbing the soapy wash cloth again. This time he ran the cloth down the length of TK’s muscular left leg, all the way to his ankle before moving back up to swipe across his groin, quickly moving across TK’s soft, but twitching cock to get to the other leg and repeating the same process. Then, just like with his torso, Carlos used the non-soapy cloth to wipe the soap residue off of the other man’s now clean skin. After tossing both wash clothes aside, Carlos grabbed the towel off of the toilet and made quick but gentle work of drying TK off before helping the man step into the clean pair of boxers he had brought in and tugging them up to TK’s hips. 

“Thank you,” TK croaked, his throat clogged with emotion at Carlos’ tender care, leaning forward to burry his face into the officer’s neck and pressed a kiss behind Carlos’ ear. Carlos hugged him gently against him, his warm hands rubbing up and down TK’s naked back.

“No need to thank me. I like taking care of you,” he whispered, pressing a firm kiss to the side of his boyfriend’s head, “C’mon. We’re not done yet,” he said after a moment, pulling away slightly, “If I help you, think you can sit on the floor for a few minutes?”

TK didn’t bother questioning the other man’s intentions, fully trusting his boyfriend as he nodded and began descending towards the floor where Carlos had laid out the used towel. 

Carlos helped him get comfortable on the floor, his back against the cool porcelain of the tub so he could tilt his head back over the edge. Carlos ran the warm water, filling up the cup that he had brought in and using it to pour water over TK’s hair. Once the hair was completely damp, he squirted some of the citrus scented shampoo his boyfriend loved into his hands and began to lather up TK’s dark locks. The firefighter groaned in pleasure as Carlos’ blunt nails scratched gently at his scalp, cleaning the last remains of the day away. The officer rinsed the lather from his hands before filling the cup again and rising the shampoo from TK’s hair, refilling the cup as needed until all of the soap was gone. Carlos reached up for the towel hanging on the hook secured to the wall. It was the towel he had used that morning to shower, but since TK was sitting on the other towel he had brought in, it would just have to do. He toweled the firefighter’s hair dry, before pressing another kiss to TK’s head and standing up.

With Carlos’ help, TK slowly got back to his feet and the other man ushered him out of the bathroom and into the bedroom where he deposited TK on the edge of the bed. TK’s eyes were blurry with tears at the love Carlos was showing him and the care he was giving him. His green eyes watched as the officer dug into the back of his closet before pulling something out with a soft _‘ah-ha!’_ escaping from his lips. When he turned around to face his boyfriend, TK raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Is that a body pillow?”

“Yeah. I bought it a couple years ago when I tweaked my back tackling a suspect. I needed some extra support while I healed. I knew it would come in handy again!” Carlos grinned. “Scoot toward the center of the bed and lay on your good side,” he instructed.

TK slowly did what his boyfriend asked, getting comfortable on his right side, facing the empty space where Carlos would hopefully soon lay. Then he felt his boyfriend tuck the body pillow behind his back carefully, making sure it was secure before tugging the blankets up over TK and the body pillow, “This way you can’t try to roll onto your other side. The body pillow will keep your propped off of it.” Carlos explained

The emotions running through TK were too much for him to hold in as his listened to his boyfriend move about the room. The tears he had been holding back earlier escaped and rolled down his cheeks as he laid in Carlos’ bed while the other man cleaned up the bathroom and turned out the lights in the house. Carlos returned to the bedroom a moment later, turning off the main light, leaving just his bedside lamp on, before stripping down to his boxers and sliding into bed beside TK. Upon seeing TK’s tears, he immediately grew concerned,

“Hey, what wrong?” he asked, leaning on his left elbow as he used his right hand to wipe the tears off his boyfriend’s face. “Did I hurt you?”

TK shoot his head against the pillow, his wide green eyes locking with Carlos’ brown ones, “No one has ever taken care of me the way you just did,” he whispered into the quiet of the room.

Carlos’ worried frown softened into a warm smile as he settled down in bed beside his boyfriend, “You deserve to be taken care of, Tiger,” Carlos said affectionately, bring his hand up to rest on TK’s left hip, just below the bandage.

“I’m sorry you had a bad day,” TK whispered, remembering the comment Carlos had made after waking him on the couch.

“I’m sorry you did too,” Carlos replied, leaning forward to press a kiss to TK’s lips, “But you know, bad days aren’t so bad when I get to spend the evening with you.”

“Even though I got hurt again?”

Carlos chuckled, “Even though you got hurt again,” he reassured, kissing TK again.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr @kml8990


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